I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the people at Angry Robot for making Kokoro a reality: to Robot Overlord Marc Gascoigne; my AR editors, Paul Simpson and Claire Rushbrook, for taking my words and making them sing; to the incredible Penny Reeve for shouting from the mountaintop until everyone knows about Angry Robot’s fabulous books; to Thomas Walker for bringing this world to life with his stunning art; and to Mike Underwood, who found me on Twitter and brought me into the Robot Army.
I’d also like to thank my awesome agent, Laura Zats of Red Sofa Literary. Laura is fierce, tireless, and extraordinarily patient with my steep learning curve. A special thank you to my independent editor Lorin Oberweger of Free-Expressions.com, who crammed the initial edit on Kokoro into a very small window. Hats off to you, Lorin, and good luck in your new venture.
Finally, to my wife Kathleen for putting up with my daydreaming, to my daughter Caitlin who dreams too much like I do, and to Jeffrey and Justin, who still correct my grammar and storytelling.
Kokoro is a very special work for me – it was the first story I started to write, way back when I was in high school. Chapter two is nearly identical to what I first put to page, and many of the ideas are still there.
This book is a tribute to the first anime shows that fired my imagination as well as a few more recent ones (relatively speaking) that brought me back into the genre. If you pay close attention, you’ll notice the Go-Rheeyo is part Space Battleship Yamato and Space Pirate Captain Harlock’s Arcadia. The mah-zhin (the name chosen to honor Toho’s Majin) represent a throwback to the idea of a god-monster, rather than standard military mecha like Gundam. Kokoro’s mah-zhin are more Grendizer, Evangelion, and Rahxephon than Patlabor.
The story itself revolves around the characters’ search for their life’s path, no matter how difficult. If only we all had a Keiko to show us the way!